What’s God like?

After hearing Gracie’s very excellent book review on Bitesize Theology, by Peter Jeffery on Saturday night, I felt compelled to read the book. I have to say, no other book sums up the basics of Christianity quite so comprehensively, as this book does. Its subjects include reconciliation, redemption, justification, grace, election, the Second Coming! All this church jargon is sure to confuse even the most learned minds! Thank God for Bitesize Theology!

Every day we pray “Heavenly Father” or “Dear God”, but who is this God we pray to? He is the Creator, the Father; the Head of the trinity (amongst many other things). Currently in our bible studies on Exodus, we are beginning to unearth the character of God. Through Exodus we have seen that He is patient, determined, sovereign (in control of all things) and most of all loving (and many more!). He is of course all those things but concisely, Bitesize Theology describes God to be like some of the following attributes:

God is holy – He is free from all sin and evil and there is in him absolute moral perfection; God can do nothing that is not holy. Therefore, God’s love is a holy love; his justice, a holy justice and his wrath, a holy wrath. This is especially comforting to us, when we apply this to salvation; his salvation is a holy salvation  there is no possibility of it failing. (Psalm 99:9; 119:9)

God is sovereign – He has the power to carry out his will and purpose. God is no fairy-tale king who can only look on helplessly as his enemies triumph. He is omni-everything! Omnipotent (He has all power), omniscient (has all knowledge), omnipresent (in all places).

The God of providence – (He provides) He is always at work in the lives of his people so nothing happens to us by luck or chance. God upholds, guides and governs all circumstances. In other words, God knows what is going to happen, when, how and why; all for His glory.

God is good – There is nothing harsh or unreasonable about him, but God’s goodness is not weakness or softness, He is not something we can take advantage of. As Christians, we can rely on his goodness; we can rely on God, we can know that whatever the circumstance, God will use it for our good, to point everything back to the cross.

God is love – a love that acts on behalf of its recipients. It is undeserved (Romans 5:6-8), it is unsought love (1 John 4:10), it is unimaginable (1 John 3:1). No other love is more sacrificial and more self-less than the love God has shown us, through the death of Jesus. Imagine: Letting a family member or friend face death, for the good of many others. UNREAL right?

Peter Jeffery also writes that “if our thinking about God is not correct then every other doctrine we apply our minds to will also be incorrect. This is the most important doctrine yet people seem to think they are free to make up their minds as to what God is like… This attitude is responsible for what is possibly the greatest sin a person can commit – to reduce God to terms that are acceptable to us (Psalm 50:21)… It is a slander on the character of God and all worship that flows from it is worthless.”

An example of this is only accepting some of the truths about God and ignoring others. Basically picking and choosing what we think God should be like. Putting God (and everything He does) in a box, is limiting God’s capabilities, essentially underestimating God. And from God being sovereign, we can see how putting God in a box is the wrong thing to do!

Read the book. It’s AWESOME!!!

Grace has a copy  or ask one of your friendly bible study leaders. They will track down a copy for you.